Combined Arms
by RowenaR
Summary: Series of post S5 Army Wives finale/post EATG crossover one-shots, written for my Holiday Fic Request Meme on LJ. #2: That Army brat is going to be the death of Rodney McKay. Someday soon, she will.
1. This Gun's For Hire

**Author:** RowenaR

**Rating:** K+

**Category:** gen

**Disclaimer:** Neither Army Wives nor Stargate are mine. If they were... you know the drill.

**Summary: **Chase Moran gets an offer he might not be able to refuse. **  
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**A/N: **Holiday Fic Request Meme. First crossover prompt and an interesting combination. I wrote Stargate/Army Wives before (it's part of a bigger series, though, but if anyone wants to read it, I can point you to the entry here :)) but this was interesting, too because of the perspective. I never wrote from the POV of any AW character before, so it's still kind of my virgin fic in this fandom. So, err, be gentle? ;)

PS.: For how long _has_ Chase been a Delta operator? I distinctly remember him telling Pam in the pilot that "they made it into Delta" but apparently, I'm the only one remembering that. Any input?

PPS.: Oh, BTW, this? The first part of three. And no idea how many more after the meme *coughs I don't have a 'verse name yet, though. Any suggestions are welcome.

Anyway, as always: Not a native speaker, so please excuse any weird grammatical constructions, run-ons and typos. Feedback will earn you a cookie, flames will roast my marshmellows.

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><p><strong>This Gun's For Hire<strong>

"_You can't start a fire  
>you can't start a fire without a spark<br>This gun's for hire  
>even if we're just dancing in the dark."<em>

_Bruce Springsteen, "Dancing in the Dark"_

Live fire exercise and he tells himself he can't wait for his last ever one. Only a couple of weeks until he can move to California with Pam and the kids. He's not gonna miss it, or so he likes to think. Of course he isn't. Who in his right mind would miss training, missions, training, missions… Seriously, who would?

He will, that's what. He didn't tell Pam until now and he doesn't plan to and something tells him she's seen right through him anyway. Maybe it's her being a cop or her being a mother or her being _her_ but she's got him figured out. Which is a good thing because he doesn't have to _tell_ her then, as in _out loud_.

So he concentrates on the training again, pushing his squad, telling them the SEALs got nothing on them and Hell Week's what Deltas do for breakfast. Rumor has it there's going to be some big push mission in a couple of days and because he'll still be with his squad then, he makes sure they give top notch performance. They're not gonna lose anyone under _his_ watch.

He shouts at them and he makes sure they don't waste any ammo and put every single projectile to good use. They've been running on next to no sleep for three days straight now and they've crossed a river, done some rappelling and then everything is kind of a blur, but he's pretty sure they're still doing good. They need to.

Not just for the mission but also because they've got visitors today, on the fourth and last day of their exercise. It's the easy part; the obstacle course, Delta version. Still live fire but rather relaxing, even after the fourth run in a row. Couple of minutes break now, and then it's the last run. Overlooking it all, their visitors.

Two in civvies, but they're not the guys he can't stop glancing at, even though he needs to keep his eyes focused on the mission. There's this guy. Air Force camos, Oakleys, pilot's stance. Lieutenant Colonel. Looks harmless, has a dangerous undercurrent going. The kind of guy all of Pam's friends would fall for hard and Pam the hardest. It's not intimidating him but he keeps his eyes on the guy, just in case. And then the guy comes walking over.

He looks at his squad and Biedermann raises an eyebrow, looking just this side of tired. Well, he's gotta do something about that. Later. Because right now, Air Force guy reached them and he nods at them. His name tag reads "Lorne" and he notices a wedding band but the name tag and his rank insignia are the only distinguishing features on Air Force guy's uniform. No unit patches, no wings, no nothing.

Lorne just nods into the round and takes off his shades, saying, "Sergeant Moran?" looking directly at him.

Huh. Resisting the urge to look at his squad, with an amused grin, he gets up, standing at attention. "At ease, Sergeant." Okay. Parade rest then. "Walk a couple of steps with me." What?

"Sir?" He looks directly at Lorne now, determined to remember who's a soldier here and who's flying planes.

Lorne, however, doesn't seem to be very much impressed. "Simple order, Sergeant. Walk with me."

Well. That was clear. "Yes, sir."

Not looking back at his squad because he knows they'll have his back regardless, he takes those couple of steps with the Colonel. A few feet away from his squad, out of earshot but observed closely by the two civilians, Lorne stops. "So… curious?"

He blinks. It's the slight smirk in Lorne's face that mildly confuses him. "About what, sir?"

"I'm sure you know about what, Sergeant. And I'm sure you're _curious_." There's another smirk, a little more pronounced. Why does he get the feeling that this Lorne character isn't some pencil pusher from the Pentagon, despite the two civilians accompanying him?

Probably because he's got that… _look_. The one Colonel Burton has, and General Holden and basically all the officer spouses of Pam's friends. The one that tells you he didn't get the fancy rank for nothing and that he can see right through you, no matter how many walls you have built. Nope, that's not your usual plane jockey, he decides. "Alright, sir. Maybe a little."

"Thought so. I'm here on… a little recruiting mission." That just makes him raise his eyebrow, knowing full well he shouldn't do that in an officer's presence. "I'm part of a top secret research facility. In fact, I command the military contingent. And lately, we're… expanding. We need new personnel, military and civilian."

Uh-huh. That doesn't tell him anything. "Where do _I_ fit in all of this, sir?"

Lorne smirks again, looking as if he understands his confusion but can't reveal anything. Of course he can't. They _never_ can. What comes next still surprises him. "You've been a Delta operator since 2007. Married, divorced, remarried the same woman, two kids. Correct, so far?"

What the hell? He resists swallowing hard. "Yes, sir."

"You are prepared to leave the Army for a private security firm based in California in a few weeks. Correct again?" Okay. That's just plain spooky. Sure, he'd handed in his resignation papers and all. But that he was supposed to join his buddy's security firm? No one aside from Pam knew _that_.

He swallows. "Yes, sir." Baffled enough not to blurt out what's burning in his mind. "Permission to ask a question, sir?"

He's pretty sure there's amusement in Lorne's face now but it's hard to tell. Man's got a poker face, he has to give him that. "How do I know all of this?"

Of course he'd know what he was most likely to ask. There has to be a reason why he's commanding some top secret military contingent. "Yes, sir."

Lorne shrugs. "We have our ways."

It's not getting any clearer. "We, sir?"

"Yep. See the two guys over there?" Lorne points towards the civilians who are still keeping their distance. "They're representatives of the civilian side of the base I command."

"What kind of post, sir?" He knew his temporary befuddlement would be a short one. And he's surprised that Lorne doesn't give him hell for interrupting a field grade officer. Colonel Burton and Colonel Sherwood sure as hell would have.

"Joint Air Force and Marine Corps operation." Okay, _that_ can't be true. He's pretty sure he never heard of _any_ joint operation between two branches as different from each other as the Air Force and the Corps. The Air Force usually has the Army to do their dirty work and the Marines are shuffled off to _their_ dirty work by the Navy. Lorne's gotta be pulling his leg. "But we're always looking for competent personnel from other branches, too. When we looked into the Army, we found you."

It's _gotta_ be a joke. Sure, he's good and he's got a tight hold on his squad and he brought every one of them home alive every damn time they went away on a mission. But he's not _that_ good. Most of all, he won't be _in_ _the Army_ for much longer. "I'm… honored, sir. But you're a couple weeks too late."

Lorne raises an eyebrow. "You mean because you handed in your resignation?" He nods. Yeah, because of that. Because Pam will _kill_ him if he only so much as _thinks_ about changing that decision. "We can always take care of that. You'd have to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, though."

Right. Of course he'd have to do that. And it's not like he _wouldn't_ do it and it's not like he's not starting to get really interested in that acclaimed joint Air Force and Marine Corps operation except that this part of his life – rigorous training, missions, feeling like a bachelor because he never gets to see either his kids or his wife – will be over soon. And that's a good thing. He shakes his head. "Sir, part of why I wanted to resign was that I have a wife and kids who I'd like to see more often than just a couple of days each month."

There. Lorne should get _that_ or the wedding band has to be a fake. Or maybe his wife is either a lot more indulgent or a lot more _uninterested_ than Pam. "Your wife is a cop with the local PD, isn't she?"

He frowns. "Yeah." And Pam's a damn fine cop. Best cop he ever saw and it's not because he's a little biased.

"We can always use skilled security and investigative personnel." Wait, _what_? He actually does something akin to a double take.

Not exactly sure if he just heard Lorne right, he narrows his eyes. "She could come _with_ me?"

Lorne nods. "Yes. Your wife and your kids, and no secret missions." It sounds too good to be true.

Still skeptical, he eyes Lorne. "Because the entire installation is top secret?"

The Colonel nods. "Exactly."

Fuck. He nearly has him. Staying in the Army, just for a couple years longer, doing what he loves to do, not having to keep any of that from Pam or Katie and Lucas… Too good to be true. Just too good to be true. "And all Pam and I would have to do is sign the non-disclosure agreements?"

"Basically, yes." How the hell did it happen? How could this Chair Force guy make leaving the Army sound so unappealing all of a sudden? How could he get him so interested that he seriously considers risking Pam's wrath that will most probably end in more than just a month on the couch?

He takes a look around, back to his squad, the civilians… and his CO, staring holes into Lorne's back. So the Colonel's been serious. Even talked to his CO before coming here. He swallows again. "Why me?"

"Well," Lorne says and rubs his neck, then makes a face. Much like he does whenever he's gotta tell his squad off for squad night, because he'd much rather spend a free evening with Pam. Or just _any time_ he has to tell his squad off because of something Pam said or did. "I know a Marine Corps Captain who'd kill to have someone like you on her team. And I'm still lacking an anniversary present." He… what?

Involuntarily, his gaze flickers back to the ring on Lorne's left hand. So Lorne's wife is probably neither indulgent nor uninterested. She's a Marine and serving on the same base. Under his command. This is just this side of weird. He frowns. "So…"

"So... I'm making you an offer you can't refuse." Right. How does he know he can't?

"What makes you think so, sir?" It's a valid question, isn't it? So it's okay that there's a slightly irritated undertone to it.

Lorne seems to have ignored it. Instead he starts numerating stuff on his fingers. "You don't want to leave the Army." It's a statement, not a question and it pisses him off. Lorne is right. "Your wife needs more of a challenge than what she's doing right now." Pam _always_ needs more of a challenge. Wouldn't be happy if she didn't. "Your kids deserve an excellent education." True. Katie sometimes scares him with how smart she is and Lucas needs teachers who push him enough that he can be his best.

He's not convinced. Not yet. "And you owe your Captain an anniversary present."

For a moment, he's positive that Lorne will bust his ass and leave him standing here. Maybe that's why he said it. It doesn't work. It's the face that Lorne makes that tells him that. "That, too." Then he's back to business. "Just think about it, Sergeant."

Before he can stop himself, he snorts and it's out. "I'll never get any action again if I do, sir."

There's a little grin on Lorne's face now. One that looks understanding. "_I_'ll never get any action again if I come home without you, Sergeant."

Oh, and that's a good reason for him to risk a second big falling out with Pam and maybe a permanent divorce, too? From the look of it, Lorne knows it's not. It doesn't have to be. Because he gave him plenty of _other_ reasons, _perfect_ ones. He wonders what the contingent Lorne's commanding is like. What that Captain he married and who would give him hell is like. "Your wife, sir… she a good Marine?"

There's a short moment when Lorne's face softens, right after he asked that question and then professional distance is back. "One of the best." Professional distance and a weird look of pride. Probably what he looks like when he's talking about Pam. "Could have been Recon if they'd allow women to serve there." Lorne shrugs and grins again. "Their loss."

He'd love to know how much of that is spousal bias and how much is actually true. He'd love to meet that Captain. He'd _really_ like to keep his marriage and family intact. He frowns. "I'll… think about it, sir."

It's not that he regrets saying that. It's just that he just surprised himself with not outright turning the offer down. Lorne doesn't look surprised. "That's all I'm asking of you, Sergeant." Then he reaches inside his pocket and pulls out a small stack of business cards. "I'll be stateside for two more weeks. When you reach a decision, be sure to give me a call or send me an e-mail."

Trying not to look too eager, he takes the card and has a short look at it. He's pretty sure he never saw an e-mail address with the extension .mil before. "Will do, sir."

Lorne is about to say something when there's the sound of a cell ringing. It's the hymn of the Marine Corps and Lorne pulls the cell out of his pocket, saying "I gotta take this call. Carry on, Sergeant," without even looking at the display. Then he turns around, answering his phone with, "We really need to work on the patience thing, jarhead," and walking away, laughing and talking and pretty much seeming to having forgotten about that Sergeant he'd been so eagerly trying to convince not to end his career in the Army and sign a non-disclosure agreement instead.

Operative word being _seeming_. Because he's pretty sure Lorne knows full well about the seed he planted in his mind and that's starting to grow rapidly even if he tries to weed it out.

While Lorne goes to join the civilians – and obviously talk to his CO again – he walks back to his squad. Biedermann is being a facial smartass again and he just growls, "Get up. Been sitting around on your asses way too long. Any longer and no one will consider us Deltas anymore," forestalling any attempts at trying to squeeze him for information on that Chair Force type who'd dragged him away.

It's working, at least on his squad because they get up for what would be the last run through the obstacle course if he wasn't suddenly in the mood for two more. _If_ he's gonna work with a Marine, he sure as hell should be up to scratch. He just has to find a way how to break it to Pam that there actually _is_ that if, even though he knows it's a damn bad idea and even though he's kind of pissed at Lorne for triggering all of this. First, though, training. He's gonna figure out everything else later. Good plan.


	2. Been a Bad Day

**A/N:** Holiday Fic Request Meme. Yay, second Stargate/Army Wives crossover after _This Gun's For Hire_! Also, look, I found a 'verse name! What do you think? Appropriate? Still got a better idea? Anything else you'd like to add? No? Here you go with the story :)

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><p><strong>Been A Bad Day<strong>

"_It's been a bad day.  
>Please don't take a picture.<br>It's been a bad day.  
>Please."<em>

_REM, "Bad Day"_

He curses the day that Morgan or Molan or whatever their name was family ever set foot on Atlantis.

No, actually he curses the day Evan Lorne asked that Sergeant – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, he doesn't care – to join the expedition. Rumor has it, he did because he owed his wife some present or other and only someone like Lorne could get the thoroughly idiotic idea to present his wife with a _soldier for her team_ to avoid having to sleep on the couch. He's been cursing the day for twelve months now. And he's cursing it again right now. With expletives that would make Sheppard God rest his soul blush deep red.

It's not that he has a problem with that Sergeant, whatever his name is. He doesn't even talk to the man since he made it a habit not to talk to members of Cadman's team if it isn't absolutely unavoidable because the fate of the galaxy depends on it. It's not the Sergeant's wife either, although she has a firm grip on law enforcement in the city and runs this radio show that's regularly grating on his nerves. No, it's the Sergeant's _kids_. Actually, just _one_ kid.

When that family – God forbid he's ever gonna learn any of their names because that would mean he actually acknowledges them – came to Atlantis from their backwater posting somewhere they don't even have snow, staring at their surroundings wide-eyed and slack-jawed like the yokels they are, they also brought two kids with them.

A girl and a boy and until now he could pretty much ignore the boy. He couldn't escape the girl, though. He's got no idea how old she is but she sure as hell is nosy, inconsiderate and rude enough to be a damn teenager. Always snooping around in his labs, keeping his scientists from doing their jobs with stupid questions only kids who were victims of that school system for trained monkeys the military calls their education could ask and being a general pain in the ass.

Unfortunately, she also inherited the gene, as the only one in her family. Even though he wishes he could just throw her out of his lab, he needs her for his research. So he glares at her when she peers into the lab he's working in right now instead of just snapping at her like he'd done to her brother a couple of times until the kids' mother had threatened to make _him_ the target of her next stupid broadcast. He hopes it might scare the girl away, just for once.

"Hey, Doc Rod." No such luck. _Again_.

He continues glaring. "It's _Dr. McKay_, Kelly."

She scrunches her nose and rolls her eyes, looking dangerously much like Cadman. "My name is _Katie_. Everyone can remember _that_. Why can't _you_?"

At the moment Kendra entered his lab, the Ancient device closest to her hums. Contently? "Didn't your parents tell you to call adults "sir" or "ma'am"? I'm pretty sure there's some regulation on that in the military."

That makes her… smirk. Unbelievable. A teenager is _smirking_ at him. "They said I can call _you_ whatever I want. And Captain Laura says so, too."

Of course. _Of course_ Cadman – he keeps refusing to call her by her married name because he's still in denial about her having married Lorne and joined forces with _that man_ – would say so. And of course Kiddie would do whatever she said. That girl would jump off a cliff if Cadman so much as hinted at that being a good idea.

Which she actually kind of did when she told the kid about that paratrooper bomb whatever stuff she did before she came to Atlantis three days ago. It's not that he was listening in, he just was unfortunate enough to sit two tables away and they didn't exactly keep their voices down… "Hey, what's this doing, Doc Rod?"

Oh _Jesus_ fucking Christ. "Put that _down_, Kacey!"

Defiantly, the kid glares at him and… the thing that's still in her hand lights up for a short moment, makes a strange plopping sound and… little bubbles start forming on and emerging from its top. What the hell? There's a moment of mutual bafflement and _that_ baffles him enough to make him miss that suddenly, the bubbles are making for _him_.

When the first one bursts against his uniform sleeve, it's too late and suddenly the smell of _lemons_ fills the room. Something in him just _flips_ and full grown panic has him in its iron grip. Lemon, he thinks, the damn kid activated something by accident and it has to be something _containing_ lemon and holy crap, _he just can't _breathe.

He's aware of the fact that he's hyperventilating and in the corner of his mind _not_ occupied with trying to stay alive he hears himself say that those children were going to be the death of him, a couple of days ago and isn't _that_ funny how his half-uttered prediction is becoming true and…

"Is that _your_ doing, Miss Moran, or was that some "invisible alien entity" again?"

He blinks, fully forgetting to hyperventilate and instead staring at the figure having… _materialized_ in the doorway. He blinks again, taking in the barely veiled smirk. She must have _sensed_ that it was _him_ on the brink of death here and then flown or levitated or beamed here with those creepy Marine super powers, just to gloat. There's no other way Cadman could suddenly have appeared like that. He _knew_ she was having some weird woman infantry witch thing going on and _that_'s the proof he'd been looking for for so…

"It was… erm… neither," Keira says and adds, almost as an afterthought, "ma'am," and for some reason that pisses him off. _Cadman_ gets a "ma'am" and _he_ doesn't even get a "Doctor"? What kind of education did her parents give her?

Still looking infuriatingly amused, Cadman raises her eyebrow. "It wasn't?" Kitty shakes her head. "What was it then?"

Could they _please_ stop talking as if he weren't… "Bubbles," is all the kids says.

"Bubbles?" is what Cadman asks as if she's deaf or something.

He's about to tell her that yes, _goddamn bubbles_ but Katrina beats him to it. "Yep. I just asked him what this does and then it… woke up and told me it wants to have some fun and before I could tell it not to, it produces bubbles that go straight over to Doc Rod."

Some fun? An Ancient device told her it wants to have _some fun_? "They were _lethal_ bubbles! This is _not_ a laughing matter, Kaleigh! And _you_, Cadman…"

She rolls his eyes and he's pretty sure he saw a copy of that in the kid's face. "_If_ you insist on calling me by my last name, do try to make it the correct one, Rodney. I got married almost _two years ago_." Yeah, and he'll never forgive her for _that_.

He glares at her. "Fine, _Captain Lorne_. This is not funny. I was being _assaulted_ by _poisonous_…"

"It says the bubbles aren't poisonous. It just wanted to see your reaction." Couldn't that kid just _shut the fuck up_? And now she's looking at that thing in an almost… affectionate way. "I think it's a little prankster."

He's pretty sure he just heard Cadman mutter "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock" but what she says out loud is, "As long as it only chooses Rodney as its target…" and then she shares a stupid grin with Kara and the hero worship with which the kid looks at Cadman nearly makes him sick. Just what he needed. A mini Cadman in the making. "Anyway, your mom's been looking for you all over the place, young lady. I promised her I'd bring you home if I happened to stumble over you."

It's kind of scary how much it satisfies him that for a moment, the worship is replaced by almost teenager like annoyance but the moment was too nice to be true which is probably why it ends too soon. The new look in place is almost pleading. "Do you _have_ to drag me back?"

Cadman shrugs. "A promise is a promise, Army brat. 'Sides, your mother is just too plain scary to be ignored." Oh, ahaha, sure, _Laura Cadman_ is afraid of an ex-cop turned head of law enforcement with a radio show. More like being best chums is what it's like, he thinks because he's seen Cadman and that Morel woman hang out together practically every minute both women aren't fawning about their respective husbands.

The kid scrunches her nose at Cadman's assessment of her mother. "She says the same of you every time dad asks her to ask you to go easy on him if he screws up."

Hello, he wants to say, still here, still having nearly _died_? Can someone please… "Far as I know, your dad _doesn't_ screw up," Cadman replies frowning and he's pretty sure she just lied. _No one_ goes through service on an off world team for over a year in Atlantis without _ever_ screwing up. The kid – he's kind of tired thinking up new names for her so he doesn't have to remember her real one – however, just gives her a withering glance that reminds him of the kid's mother. It has an interesting effect on Cadman, too. "Well, that explains it, then. It's good to know I rule through fear instead of inspiration. Anyway…"

"Could you just please leave already?" Because he's getting tired of this and most of all of having Cadman in his doorway and _just not leaving_ and he kind of ignores that suddenly, Cadman's presence is getting to him much more than the kid's. It's probably because it's the longest time he ever spent in the same room with her, almost alone, since she got married.

She throws him a strange look. "Of course, Rodney. Come on, Army brat, Dr. McKay needs some alone time to sulk. He's not happy if he can't sulk, so let's do him that favor."

Yeah, he wants to say as they both turn to go, get out and take that kid with you. Go back to the man who replaced Colonel Sheppard and… who replaced Colonel Sheppard and gives you Army Sergeants as anniversary presents and still makes you smile when… _others_ would have made you kick their asses. Instead, he says, "And take that… _thing_ with you, kid."

The kid… turns around and takes a long look at him before she slowly shakes her head and puts the device back on its table. At his evil glare, she just shrugs and explains, "I don't think you need time to sulk. I think you need to have a little fun and it thinks the same. It says it's ready for you whenever you are."

It's the last thing she says before she turns around and joins Cadman who gave him a smirk and looked at the kid as if to say "Army brat's right. Go and have some _fun_ for a change". As they walk down the corridor, animatedly chatting about some probably explosions related topic or other, he eyes the device again. It seems to sit there and mock him, taunting him… and he catches himself thinking that maybe it _is_ time he starts having some fun again.

First thing, he thinks, will be taking this thing to Dr. Marina Stuyvesant's engineer shack and dissemble it until it's sorry it ever spewed a bubble at him. Stuyvesant likes that kind of thing and he kind of likes Stuyvesant and maybe… maybe that kid is scarier than her mother and Cadman combined. He'll have to remember that next time she barges into his office.


End file.
